Five men released on bail after arrests near RAF Fairford

Five men arrested near a British air base used by U.S. aircraft in strikes on Iran have been released on bail, police said Monday. Investigators are examining whether the suspected plot has a foreign connection, but have not publicly linked Iran to the arrests.

The men, British nationals from London aged 23 to 25, were arrested Sunday after police received a tip that three suspicious vehicles appeared to be heading toward RAF Fairford in southwest England. Counterterrorism police are investigating suspected explosives offenses and the preparation of a terrorist act. Dozens of nearby homes were evacuated, NBC News reported.

Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, the head of UK Counter Terrorism Policing, said the men were released after “extensive interviews and inquiries.” He cautioned: “To be very clear, this does not mean that the investigation is over. They are subject to stringent conditions on their movement and contact with others.”

Taylor said investigators were pursuing multiple lines of inquiry, including whether those involved could have been acting, knowingly or unknowingly, on behalf of a foreign state. He acknowledged “significant interest in whether the current geopolitical context has a bearing on this incident.”

Iran’s embassy in London denied any involvement. In a statement Monday, it condemned what it called “unfounded and malicious speculations” linking Tehran to the arrests and said the claims would fuel “Iranophobia propaganda” in Britain. The embassy said Iran reserved the right to take appropriate legal measures, Al Jazeera reported.

The base’s role in the conflict has drawn attention. According to Al Jazeera, the UK authorised the United States to use bombers based at Fairford to strike Iranian missile sites involved in attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz. NBC News reported that then-Prime Minister Keir Starmer gave permission in March for “specific and limited defensive” U.S. operations from British bases. In July, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned that a base used to facilitate attacks on Iranian territory would be a legitimate target, according to NBC News.

Al Jazeera reported that a source familiar with the investigation considered an Iranian-linked motive the most likely, while authorities were also examining a possible Russian sabotage operation or an Islamist plot. Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said Monday that Britain must be ready to confront security threats, adding: “We will act against the proxies of Iran.”

President Donald Trump said Sunday that the suspects had been under observation “for a long time” and were looking to do “big damage” to the base. He praised cooperation with British authorities, saying, “We had them under view for a long time, and we got them.”

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham was due to chair a meeting of the government’s COBRA emergency response team Monday. He urged people not to speculate while authorities establish the facts.

NBC News reported that a local farmer told the BBC she had seen a “large group of hooded and masked men” early Sunday. “When they saw me they ran ahead of me — some into the field and some towards the neighboring village,” she said. Fuel delivery company Fuel2U said its logo appeared on a vehicle pictured near the base, but neither the vehicle nor anyone involved was connected to the company.